Indian Railway Expands Women’s Quota In AC Trains; Will Use Solar Energy To Save Money
Indian Railways will now use vacant plots to generate solar energy and save money.
Railways have always been Indians’ preferred mode of transport and the credit goes to Indian Railways. Indian Railways has always strived to deliver the best possible service to its loyal customers.
Be it reducing the ticket prices or spending a 600 crore budget on improving rail coaches or announcing interesting offers to passengers who book their tickets online, Indian Railways is constantly bringing about a change for the betterment of trains and comfort of passengers. So what is new?
More Reserved Seats for Women
Indian Railways has always been gender sensitive and this goes on to prove it. As per the new notice issued, there are six sleeper class berths for female passengers, irrespective of age, group or individual travel. A circular issued on November 30 specified that the new quota is in addition to the previous quota of four lower berths set aside per coach for senior citizens, pregnant women and women above 45 years of age.
Trains That Will Offer This Benefit
Passengers who will travel 3AC class of all Rajdhani, Duranto and other fully air-conditioned trains except the Garib Rath Express will be able to avail this facility.
Indian Railways Embrace Solar Power To Save Money
Maintaining an innovative approach, Indian Railways plans to set up solar power plants of 30 gigawatts (GW) capacity to optimize the energy utilized by railways.
Reports state that under the first phase, 10 GW energy is planned to be generated that will help the railways lower their energy bill by Rs 30,000 crore each year.
“It has been decided that there is a potential to set up 30 GW solar power [plants] in which we will be having solar panels along the tracks and unutilized land. In the first phase, we will be going for only 10 GW and the formalities for the same are being worked out. Solar Energy Corporation of India (SEC) will most likely be tasked to issue the tender.”
51,000 hectares of vacant land is available as of now but the project will be carried out only on the patches suitable for it.
Presently, Indian Railways is awaiting the No Objection Certificate from various states out of which some states have already granted them the NOC.
While Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Karnataka, Rajasthan have given their NOCs, West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala have refused to do the same.
As the Indian Railways strives for the comfort of passengers and takes a huge step towards an improved economy through this solar power plant initiative, we can rest assured that a better tomorrow is on the horizon.
